New York, NY - The American Bar Association (ABA) and the Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals (ALFDP), the leading international organization for law firm diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) professionals, today announced a co-sponsorship and co-branding arrangement for the ABA’s Model Diversity Survey (MDS) and its future iterations. Through the partnership, the ALFDP and ABA will ensure that the most reliable data is available to advance DEI in meaningful ways. The MDS has amassed 200 client signatories, with 79 added within the past two years.

“We’re thrilled to partner with the ABA in bolstering the vital impacts of the MDS and underscore its place as the leading barometer that every law firm and legal department should ascribe,” said Karlie Ilaria Garcia, ALFDP Board President and Director of Global Diversity and Inclusion at Paul Hastings. “The MDS will uniquely provide clients and law firms with vital data, strengthening diversity, equity and inclusion in the legal profession.”

Stemming from Resolution 113, a product of the Diversity 360 Commission formed by Paulette Brown during her term as ABA President, the ABA Model Diversity Survey helps companies assess the DEI efforts of the law firms that represent them. With a key goal being the economic empowerment of diverse lawyers, the commission urged, through Resolution 113, that law firms and corporate clients create opportunities for and direct a greater percentage of their legal spending toward diverse attorneys. The 2016 resolution can be found here: https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/directories/policy/annual-2016/2016_hod_annual_113.docx and was passed by the ABA House of Delegates, with the survey serving as an accountability tool.

“We’re confident that this collaboration will help the ABA Model Diversity Survey stay current and prove even more useful to clients and law firms in their pursuit of greater diversity in the legal profession,” said ABA President, Deborah Enix-Ross. “Expanding the use of and reliance on the MDS is vital to supporting those seeking reliable data while decreasing the number of survey variants.”